Windup equipment



July 3, 1962 G. A. KINNEY 3,042,324

WINDUP EQUIPMENT Filed May 27, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

INVENTOR C/ GEORGE ALLISON'KINNEY ATTORNEY July 3, 1962 e. A. KlNNEY 3,

WINDUP EQUIPMENT Filed May 27, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR GEORGE ALLiSON KINNEY ATTORNEY July 3, 1962 G. A. KINNEY 3,042,324

WINDUP EQUIPMENT Filed May 27, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 g INVENTOR GEORGE ALLISON KINNEY ATTORNEY y 6 G. A. KINNEY 3,042,324

WINDUP EQUIPMENT Filed y 2 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 4 I Q I INVENTOR GEORGE ALLISON KINNEY Li...

July 3, 1962 G. A. KINNEY 3,042,324

WINDUP EQUIPMENT Filed May 27, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTO TTORN Filed May 27, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG-6 INVENTOR GEORGE ALLISON KINNEY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,042,324 WINDUP EQUIPMENT George Allison Kinney, West Chester, Pa., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 27, 1960, Ser. No. 32,180 5 Claims. {CL 242-18) This invention relates to the high speed rotation of rigid cylinders or rolls and to the application of these in the winding of filamentous materials such as threads, yarns, strands, and the like and more particularly to the high speed cross winding of synthetic textile fibers in filamentous form. It especially relates to an improved process and equipment for winding by means of a surface driven roll.

Windups employing rotating cylinders in driving contact, called surface drives, are known in the art. These permit operating the driving roll at a constant rotational speed while maintaining a constant surface velocity upon the driven package despite the growth of that package as the filamentous material is wound thereon. Auxiliary means are commonly employed to transverse the material upon the winding package; these means ordinarily comprise either a traversing roll or a cam-actuated reciproeating traverse guide. Equipment of this type is widely used and serves adequately at low and moderate speeds, well below 2,000 yards per minute. At increased speeds, however, defects arise due to the magnification of forces resulting from the greater speed acting on the machine parts and upon the winding filament itself. Furthermore small imbalances in the rotating cylinders ordinarily employed as rolls which create negligible forces at low speeds, produce excessive forces at high speeds. Because the mass of such rolls is distributed and not concentrated in a point or a plane, these forces of imbalance not only produce excessive radial loads but excessive couples as well, this being the well-known phenomenon termed dynamic imbalance. Higher winding speeds, however, have the obvious economic advantage of greater productivity for given investment and labor with the result that existing equipment has often been tried at excessive speeds with resultant break down, complete failure, or with the result that the packages so formed are characterized by overthrown ends, non'straight edges, and improperly formed surfaces. Furthermore, the additional difficulty may arise, of degradation of the winding filament itself caused by erratic and excessive applied forces. Vibration, bouncing of packages and the like occur, reducing bearing life, increasing maintenance, and generally creating hazardous operating conditions. It has long been apparent, therefore, to those skilled in the art that surface driven windups of the type' known to the art are generally limited to surface speeds well below 2,000 yards per minute.

The object of the persent invention is to provide rigid rolls capable of high speed rotation without excessive vibration, bouncing, or deformation. A further object is to provide improved methods and apparatus for the high speed cross winding of filamentous materials, employing rigid rolls rotatable at speeds considerably in excess of 2,000 yards per minute. Still another object is to eliminate scuffing between a drive roll and a surface driven package imposed by misalignment. Yet another object is to eliminate the end thrust between such a drive roll and the driven package imposed by said misalignment. Still a further object is to eliminate vibration caused by said mis alignment. Yet a further object is to provide a winding system minimizing the effects of dynamic imbalance. Still a further object is to keep both the weight and critical speeds of moving parts as low as possible to minimize kinetic energy values at critical speeds. And still another object is to employ the lowest possible bearing loads and bearing speeds. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings and the description hereinafter.

The difiiculties of the prior art have been overcome by an application of a winding arrangement in which a seismic mounting of rotating parts is employed and operation is carried out in the seismic speed range. It is a recognized principle that when a symmetrical solid body of perferctly uniform density characteristics is rotated about its axis of symmetry, the rotating body will be stable in rotation about the axis of symmetry as the rotational speeds increase to extremely high values. Such a body is ideally balanced with its center of gravity coinciding with the axis of symmetry and axis of rotation. If

however, such a body is notof perfectly uniform density, or is given an added mass at some distance from the axis of symmetry, the center of gravity no longer coincides with the axis of symmetry. Under these changed con ditions, if an attempt is made to rotate the body about its axis of symmetry, considerable restraint will have to be imposed upon the rotating body to maintain its initial position in space as the rotational speed is increased. This is due to the effects of the center of gravity lying some distance from the concurrent axis of rotation and axis of symmetry. As is well known, when the rotational speed is increased such an unbalanced body will tend to move in a curved path until at a particular elevated rotational speed the rotating body will begin to rotate about its center of gravity in a stable condition or position. If the center of gravity is displaced, as in the latter case, from the axis of symmetry or normal axis of rotation, the axis of symmetry will make circular excursions around the new shifted axis of rotation. The speed at which the rotating unbalanced body becomes stabilized on an axis through its center of gravity is normally considered its seismic speed, or the condition of the rotating body is considered as seismic. A suitable stable mounting for an unbalanced symmetrical body which is intended to be rotatably accelerated up through the seismic speeds, must, in the early stages of rotation below the seismic condition, provide sufficient restraint or damping forces to maintain the position of the spinning body; and above the seismic speeds, must accommodate the circular excursions of the axis of symmetry about the final stabilized axis of rotation through the center of gravity. A mounting which operates in this manner is referred to in this application as a seismic mounting. Thus far, the discussion is limited to a simple case in which the rotating symmetrical body has asimple configuration lying substantially in one plane, such as a disc or circular plate. Of course when such a member is given axial length or thickness to approach a cylindrical form, it is likely that atone axial position along the cylinder the off center weight may lie in a different position than the off center weight at another axial position. As is Well known, this will create a dynamically unstable condition in which seismic rotation cannot readily be achieved. The present invention achieves a solution to this problem of seismic operation of rotating unbalanced cylindrical elements, as well as to other problems herein discussed. The preferred seismic speed range is defined, for the purposes of this :invention, as that speed range above three times the natural frequency of the rotating assembly and seismic mounting is defined as resilient mounting having a spring constant sufiiciently low to permit operating in the seismic speed range and still provide sufficient restraint when the rotating assembly is approaching seismic speeds. The seismic mounting is disposed in a manner permitting a rigid rotating cylinder to adjust to dynamic imbalance. Also employed is an arrangement in which self-alignment between driving and driven rolls is accomplished.

In addition, an arrangement is employed in which the winding package revolves on centers which are substantially fixed and the drive roll is placed on a movable swing arm. The traverse mechanism is supported by the same seismic mounting as the drive roll, and is driven from the drive roll. The movable drive roll-traverse mechanism assembly is constrained by means regulating the relationship between the traverse guide and the surface of the growing winding package to maintain a substantially short and constant unsupported yarn length.

Other objects and advantages Will appear from a consideration of the specification, claims, and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation, with certain parts broken away, of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the parts at that point in the winding process at which the winding package has just begun.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the combination shown in FIGURE 1 with certain parts partly broken away and is in partial cross section showing the apparatus at a point in the winding process at which a package of yarn has grown upon the windup supporting bobbin.

FIGURES 3 and 3a constitute a composite side elevational view in cross section of the integral motorized drive roll assembly employed in this invention.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross sectional view of the bobbin or windup roll and its supporting chuck as employed in the invention.

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line ti-6 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a transverse cross sectional view of the traverse cam employed showing the traverse guide in side elevation engaged in the groove of the traverse cam.

FIGURE 8 is a top view of the traverse guide of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a front View of the traverse guide of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 10 is a partial top view of the inboard end of the traverse cam housing.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2 of the drawings, threadline 200 passes downward in the vertical direction through reciprocating yarn guide 201 and then is wound tangentially upon the surface of the Windup roll or bobbin 120. Reciprocating thread guide 201 is operated by a traverse mechanism generally indicated by 202 which is mounted upon and actuated by motorizeddrive roll 203 as will be seen later. The motorized drive roll 203 and traverse assembly 202 are mounted by means of swinging links 204 and 205 connected by pivots 206, 207,

- 208, and 209 to the face plate 210 which in turn is attached by fasteners 211 to the face of a spinning machine and not shown in the figures. Bobbin 12 0 is mounted upon chuck assembly 213 which is fastened to face plate 210 by support tube 110 and fasteners 138. As yarn builds up on bobbin 120, drive roll assembly 203 will swing in a curved path so that its center moves away from the center of chuck assembly 213, a cut-out 214 being provided in face plate 210 to permit this motion. The action of links 204 and 205 acting through pivots 205, 207, 208, and 209 is such that, as the center of integral motorized drive roll assembly 203 moves away from the center of chuck assembly 213, the traverse mech anism 202 is also pivoted about its axis in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 1. This pivoting serves to swing traverse guide 1 away from the growing surface of the yarn package upon bobbin 120 and so permits an extremely short maximum uncontrolled yarn length between reciprocating yarn guide 201 and the surface of the growing yarn package at all times thus building a package of commercial desirable characteristics, i.e., with substantially straight sides.

The motion of integral motorized drive roll 203 is restrained by means of air cylinder assembly 215 which is fastened by means of link 2116 and fastener 217 to face plate 210. A regulated source of constant air pressure, not shown in the figure, is supplied to cylinder assembly 215 and acts upon the internal piston to extend piston rod 218 which is pivoted at 219 to link 220, which is an extension of pivot 207, to bias link 220 in a clockwise direction applying a constant force serving to bias the center of motorized drive roll assembly 203 towards the center of chuck assembly 213 with a constant force. By providing a suitable pneumatic switch, not shown, and using a double acting cylinder for assembly 215, the dofiing procedure is facilitated wherein upon reversal of the direction of piston rod 218 the motorized drive roll assembly 203 is swung to its extreme counter clockwise position permitting freedom to the operator for dofiing.

Pivot 209 is mounted to face plate 210 by means of stud 222 (FIGURE 2) which has spacing shoulder 223 to thrust against face plate 210 and also acts as a locating stop for bearing 224-. Bearing 225 is spaced from bearing 224- by bearing spacer 226 and is held in the shell of 209 by means of retaining device 227. Nut 228 pre vents the rotating parts from sliding off stud 222. Pivot 208 which connects link 205 to integral motorized drive roll assembly 203 is similar in construction, shouldered and threaded stud 22? being fastened to motor housing adaptor 18. Pivots 207 and 206 duplicate pivots 209 and 208, respectively.

The elements providing the driving action are shown in FIGURES 3, 3a and 4-. It is performed by drive roll 32 which is essentially encased by shell 33 surrounding drive roll 32 for nearly the entire circumference but with a sufficient opening or cut away portion to permit driving of the Winding package. Drive roll 32 is spaced by and supported by spacers 42 and 43 from shaft 44'which has both ends turned down to receive bearings 7 and 7. Bearings 7 and '7' are held in place by retaining rings 10 and 10'. These bearings are held in seismic mounts comprising bearing housing 5 and 5 into which the outer race of bearings 7 and 7' fit and having projections extending into elastomeric seismic mount elements 29. Each of these is molded of resilient elastomeric material as an annulus having internal grooves into which are fitted spacer rings '27 preferably of metallic construction, one on each side, plus an external spacer ring 31 of construction similar to rings 27. The entire assemblies fit into inner mount retainers 30 and 30'. It will be seen that the cross section of the elastomeric mount element 29 acts somewhat as a beam built in at both ends from one ring 27 to the other. Radial extension or flexing of elements 29 under vibrating loading takes place in cavities machined in inner seismic mount retainers 30 and 30" to restrain movement of the rotating unit below its seismic speed and accommodate movement of the rotating unit axis of symmetry around its final axis of rotation in the seismic range. The entire assemblies are retained by retaining rings 28. Pulley 26 occupies one end of the shaft 44 and coupling member 34 the other. These both being retained by nuts 25. Mount retainer 30 is held by retaining rings 28 in mount holder 24 which receives externally shell 33. Shell 33 is threaded to releasably fasten to end cap 4 thus insuring security of the arrangement. At the inner end, the mount retainer 30 is retained similarly in mount holder 35 which supports shell 33 and is tapped to receive cap screws 17. Inner end cap 36 acts to close and retain the entire assemblage. Cap screws 17 secure mount holder 35 to motor housing adapter 18 while cap screws 17 similarly fasten motor housing 19 to motor housing adapter 18. Motor housing 19 is externally threaded to receive housing cover 20 and contains stator 21.

Rotor 4,0 is mounted on bearings 7" which are retained by retaining rings 10". The bearings are held in hearing housings 39 and 41, respectively, and these in turn by outer shell extension 117'.

are retained by mounts 38 and '38. Spacer 22 locates the working parts of the motor within the motor housing 19 and is located in conjunction with bearing housing 41 by means of retaining ring 23. Bearing housing 41 also contains spring '14 which locates rotor 40 axially and is itself held in place by retaining rings Motor coupling member 37 is held to rotor 4'5 by means of nut 25' andthe two coupling members 37 and 34 are con nected by means of a flexible member 45 made of elastomeric material which may be a short length of rubber pressure tubing retained internally by means of a pressfit within the said coupling members.

Bearing housings 5 and 5 are fabricated with upstanding cylindrical portions which receive mounting pins 46 and 47 which support the traverse housing 13. The traverse housing 13 contains cylindrical roll element 12 provided with a cam groove. Roll element 12 carries reduced sections at either end for bearings 7 which are retained by retaining rings 10" within traverse housing 13 which is supported by traverse supports 11 and 15. Support 11 iswelded to pin 46. Plug 64?. closes one end of the traverse asembly 202 compressing spring 14% which provides axial location to the traverse cam 12. Machine screw 16 releasably fastens plug 642 internally within traverse housing 13 to support and mounting stud 4'] which locates within the upstanding cylindrical-member of bearing housing 5. Drive pulley 9 is pressed on the reduced shaft portion of traverse cam 12 and is driven by belt 8 which is in turn driven by pulley 26. External of pulley 9 is idler 7" which is retained by nut 6. Shifter lever 3 is pivoted about machine screw 2 located in an abutment on traverse housing 13 and is employed in shifting belt 8 from its operative position on pulley 9 to its inoperative position on idler 7". The entire traverse asembly 202 is adjustably mounted within up right cylindrical members 5, 5' and located by means of set screws 1 thus permitting regulation of the tension in belt 8 and facilitating its change when required.

The bobbin supporting chuck 117, 128, 129, and the bobbin 120 so supported are best seen in FIGURES 5 and 6. Bobbin 120 is held by expansible rings 119 in spaced relationship in the radial direction from the chuck outer shell 117. The bobbin 120 is resiliently centered by elastic rings 119 and stopped in axial motion Inner shell 123 connects outer shell 1:17 with shaft 129. The shaft is, shouldered on the outboard end and reduced in cross section on the inboard end and threaded to receive fastener 12 i. Bearings 113 are disposed upon shaft 129 and separated by bearing spacer 113. The outer races of said bearings 118 are connected within seismic mount elements 126 which are resilient molded elastomeric construction having molded grooves containing metal spacer rings 127 on the inside and outside metal spacer rings 125. The mount elements 126 are thus constrained by inner rings 127 against mount retainers 111 and 111 acting somewhat as built-in beams of annular construction spaced from ring to ring. Spacer rings 125 act to stiffen the center of the elastic beams so produced and also to retain the outer races of bearing 118. Mount elements 126 function in the same manner as elements 29 previously discussed. Mount retainers 111 and 11-1 are of a heavy metal such as lead so as to reduce the frequency response of the structure supporting the dynamic members. The mount retainers 111 and 111' are held within mount tube 116. Tube 11 6 and mount retainers 111 and 111 constitute parts of a composite housing in which the shaft 129 of the rotating chuck is mounted. Internally threaded cylindrical block 130 receives pivot screws 114 and by the fastening action is drawn into tight relationship with the inside of mount tube 116. Tube 116, and so the rotating assembly, is suspended in support tube 110 as later described, and is pivotally mounted, with respect to the fixed supporting structure and swinging aligning tube 1-15, about a vertical axis by means of pivot screws 114. The axis about which the assembly pivots is located at such a point as to pass through the approximate center of gravity of the operating parts.

Aligning tube acts as an open casing or cagelike member which is held by the upper pivot screw 1'14 and serves to connect the upper pivot screw assembly with the lower pivot screw assembly and serves as a mount for lower horizontal pivots 131 and 1322. Lock wire 133 retains lower pivot screw 114 in the assembly. Aligning connector links 101, there being one at each end of the bobbin chuck, connect upper horizontal pivot 134 with lower horizontal pivot 131 and upper horizontal pivot 135 with lower horizontal pivot 132, respectively, to form a swingable suspension mounting arrangement for alignment tube 115 and the parts carried thereby. The connection links are arranged so that they diverge as they extend downwardly to the lower pivot points.

The upper and lower horizontal pivots such as 135 and 131 each comprise a fixed shaft 136 fastened to aligning connector link 10 1 and shouldered sleeve bearings at each end (137 and 103) located by retaining rings 102. Support tube 110 is tapped and drilled at a number of points arranged about the periphery such as 13? so that it may be attached to the face 210 of the spinning machine or of the unit containing the operating mechanism of the windup and is permanently fastened to support tube 110' which bears upper horizontal pivots 13 i and 135 and upon which aligning tube 115 and parts carried thereby are swingably suspended, as previously mentioned.

Brake arm 104 passes through a suitable aperture in support tube 116 and carries brake blocks on the end inside the chuck assembly. Movement of brake arm 104- thrusts brake blocks 139 against the internal vertical portion of outer shell extension 117'. This stops rotation of bobbin 120. It also serves to lock the chuck 213 to the structural frame of the spinning machine so that withdrawal of the package 221 over the end of chuck 213 can be performed without loading the elastomeric seismic mount elements 126 excessively. Brake arm 104 is retained by brake arm retaining washers and by means of set screws 106. Brake arm 104 may be operated by suitable means (not shown), such as a pneumatic cylinder and associated pneumatic flow system. A switch, not shown, to initiate the braking action, would be provided at a convenient location for the operator.

The traverse guide 201 is shown in detail in FIGURES 7, 8, and 9. It comprises a cam groove engaging portion 300, a traverse cam housing engaging portion 301, and a self-stringing yarn guide 302 of a plate type. The cam groove engaging portion 300 has pointed ends to insure tracking at the cross over portions of cam groove 48 of cylindrical roll element 12. The traverse cam housing engaging portion 301 is a parallelogram whose long diameter is at right angles vto the long dimension of the groove engaging portion 300, and the angles are so selected in the parallelogram that when any two opposed flat sides are engaged with the sides of the slot 305 in the traverse cam housing, the groove engaging portion is aligned with the groove. Curves whose radii are one half the distance between the traverse guides join the sides of the parallelogram that alternately contact sides of the traverse cam housing slot as the guide 201 changes contact at each reversal. It is necessary, of course, to maintain the helix angle of the cam groove 48 within a value producing a pressure angle below that at which the guide 201 would stick in the groove. The self-stringing plate type yarn guide 302 is preferably formed out of one piece of metal or ceramic and is provided with a tail portion 303 buried within the body of the traverse guide 201 to retain the self-stringing guide 302 and a cut out 304 in which the guided thread rests. It is oriented with respect to the traverse guide engaging portion 301 so that the angle presented to the yarn swings about the direction of travel on alternate passes. The upper surface of selfstringing plate type guide 302 is curved in such a fashion that a threadline under slight tension will be picked up when the guide reciprocates in one direction and, if the taut threadline is struck by the guide passing in the other direction, it will be lifted over the guide and be picked up upon the return stroke.

The vertical portion forming part of the opening 3% retains and guides the threadline during the traversing operation. Consistent with the objectives of high speed operation, the reciprocating mass has been kept to a minimum. In the embodiment shown the cylindrical roll element 12 has a diameter of A3" and provides a 6-inch stroke by means of the cam groove. There are 18 crossovers. The traverse guide 201 may be fabricated of a polymeric material having low friction properties. Molded nylon has been used with the /8" diameter traverse cam. Approximate dimensions of the guide are major chord length on groove engaging portion 3%, 7 major diameter length of transverse guide portion 3431, 7 both portions being approximately 76 in height, and the yarn guide 3% extending another in height. Yarn guide 302 may be fabricated from a wear resistant metal plate .003 thick. The entire traverse guide assembly 291 weighs approximately 0.01 gram.

The traverse housing 13 has a slot 3% cut in it which is slightly longer than the traverse stroke. The edges of this slot act as the transverse guides for traverse guide 201, the edges of portion 361 bearing against these. At the inboard end of slot 365, a widened portion 3% is provided by milling a flat upon the surface of traverse housing 13. This widened portion 306 is for the purpose of inserting traverse guide 201 in the groove and for removing a worn out or damaged traverse guide when necessary. The procedure followed is to press on the end of traverse earn 12, essentially pushing on nut 6, in the inward direction compressing spring 14 and moving the end of traverse groove 43 so that it comes underneath widened portion 3%. At this point, an operator may insert or remove a traverse guide 201 using tweezers or some other convenient tool. Upon release of the inward force, spring 14' returns the traverse cam to its normal position by forcing bearing 7 against retainer It will be seen then that bobbin 129 and the package thereon may align itself by rotation about a vertical axis acting through pivot screws 114 and may react to end thrust by swinging movement about upper and lower horizontal pivots 131 and 135 in combination with and 132 and 134 acting through aligning links or arms 101. In surface contact between the winding package 221 on bobbin 120 and drive 37., forces of misalignment may occur in the process of winding. Any such force at the contact surface which is not contained in a plane normal to the axis of the integral motorized drive roll assembly M3 produces an undesirable scufling effect acting against the turns of the yarn in an axial direction. However, due to the disclosed construction such force will also immediately produce a rotation of the winding package about the pivots 114 or through the aligning arms 101 to alter the surface contact to the end that the disturbing force no longer exists and once again all contact forces acting upon the growing yarn package 221 are contained in the said plane normal to the axis of integral motorized drive roll assembly 2G3. Employment of this principle of self alignment in a surface contact drive has the advantage of eliminating scuffing between the drive roll and the driven package caused by misalignment. Furthermore, end thrust is eliminated so that retaining a bobbin upon the expansible rings 119 is less difficult in high speed service. Bouncing and vibration are also minimized by said self alignment producing quieter and safer operation, reducing yarn surface damage, increasing bearing life, and reducing maintenance. The downwardly diverging relationship of the links 1411 contributes to the self aligning action of the drive arrangement.

In accordance with the principles of vibrations, generally discussed earlier, in operation above the resonance point, forces of imbalance act to drive the center of gravity toward the rotational axis. This action causes a decrease in the force of imbalance and amplitude of vibration as operating speeds are raised and produces an acceptable stability as the ratio of operating frequency to natural frequency reaches a value of about 3. This invention contemplates rotating at ratios above 3 in the region which is termed seismic as described previously.

it will be noted that all rotating parts in the embodiment are so seismically mounted. In other words, there is interposed between the individual rotating parts and the fixed mounting framework, a-member or members of considerable elasticity such that the natural frequency of the rotating assemblies is relatively low. This natural or resonant frequency is so selected that it falls at one third or less of the operating frequency of the individual part. Provision for dynamic imbalance is also provided and will be discussed further.

Furthermore, this invention contemplates operating in the seismic'region in a manner accounting for the forces of dynamic imbalance in a long rigid rotating cylinder. As has been mentioned previously, these forces of imbalance, because they derive from a mass distributed in other than a single plane, produce couples as well as radial forces. At the high speeds contemplated, these couples to ay be destructive. In a rotating system in which the mounting is rigid, dynamic balancing techniques might be employed to overcome these couples. These techniques place appropriate correction weights in two planes, usually the end planes of a rigid rotor, and correct both static and dynamic imbalance. Such a balancing technique is satisfactory providing the rotor is indeed rigid and is not deformed by the forces of rotation. At high speeds, however, deformations due to speed exist and cannot be ignored. It is well known that a flexible rotor can only be balanced in two planes for a single speed and will be unbalanced at any other speed. This means that flexibility alone does not solve the problem of high speed rotation if operation is intended at other. than one speed. It also means that the flexibility introduced to reduce natural frequency to achieve seismic operation in a manner satisfactory for point or planar masses will in a distributed mass system, introduce problems hitherto unsolved except by balancing at a single speed, a solution not acceptable in the service contemplated. The instant invention employs an extremely rigid rotor and contemplates introducing the flexibility necessary for seismic operation in such a manner that the end planes of the rotor may move substantially independently in relation to the center of rotation.

As is well known, some damping or restraint is required. Without damping, or with very low damping, forces and amplitudes are high when operating near the critical speed; the speed at which the operational and natural frequencies coincide. In the instant case, it oc curs mainly through the friction between parts. The internal friction provides sufiicient damping to lower both forces and the vibration amplitude to a safe level during passage through the critical speed. By maintaining low critical speeds, safety is further improved, inasmuch as the kinetic energy of the rotating parts is relatively low at the critical speed. The kinetic energy of any moving parts varies directly with the weight of the part and the square of its speed. Low speed thus produces low forces. Furthermore, all of the rotating parts in the embodiment have been kept low in weight, and, through the use of low spring constant mounts, the kinetic energy while passing through the point of lowest dynamic stability, the critical speed range, has been kept to a minimum. It can also be shown that the low spring constant value employed serves to lower bearing loads as well as critical speeds.

The mounting method employed also permits making the chuck construction as rigid as possible. For exam- 9 ple, the construction of the chuck assembly of FIGURE must be maintained strong enough to support yarn crushing loads, and rigid enough in resisting centrifugal forces and the crushing forces that deflection under load does not impair the function. The weight must be kept low to limit the kinetic energy of the rotational parts for both safety and power considerations as discussed. Low weight and high rigidity, however, are elements leading to high natural frequency unless other measures are taken. The low spring constant values needed for seismic operation are introduced in the form described and are placed in the bearing mounts located just within the ends of the chuck which itself is strong and rigid. By this means, forces of imbalance are placed between, or radially out from, the bearing centers and elastically supported. The mounts thus support independent proportions of dynamic imbalance as well as of any static imbalance.

In a system of this type, rigidity in the rotating cylinder is of additional importance for it must operate below the first critical speed of the rotating cylinder itself considered apart from its mounting. This is to prevent vibration and distortion of the roll structure which might well occur if the roll ran near its own natural frequency even though the roll assembly was operating in a stable manner relative to the shaft on which it is mounted in seismic relation. In other words, without this rigidity, it would become a flexiblerotor with its accompanying problem of inherent imbalance.

The other rotating members are treated similarly. Considering the chuck assembly of FIGURE 5, it will be noted that shaft 129 rotates internally in bearings 118 which are connected through seismic mount elements 126 to the support through the outer mount 111 to the support tube 110, thus isolating the rotating parts from the stationary parts by means of an elastomeric member. Similarly in the integral motorized drive roll assembly of FIGURE 3, it will be seen that the shaft 44 rotates within bearings 7 being connected through seismic mount element 29 to the supporting member which is the shell 33. assembly is mounted within seismic mount elements 29. This permits the entire assembly of drive roll and traverse to be isolated from the mounting frame but yet to maintain a constant distance from center of traverse cam to center of drive roll. Similarly rotor 40 of the motor is carried on bearings 7" within elastorneric mount elements 38. Thus all of the rotating parts are isolated from the stationary parts by spring like members of essentially low spring constant and these spring constants having been chosen to provide extremely low natural frequencies all of the parts are operated well above their natural frequency.

Rubber mount elements have proven acceptable in providing seismic operation of the chucks for 3 1 LD. 7 inch long bobbins and for the associated driving and traversing equipment. The mounting employed according to the figures of the drawing, using rubber, provides sufiicient damping to maintain dynamic stability during the critical speed which in the chuck mentioned occurs at a yarn speed of approximately 700 yards per minute.

While I have made a disclosure of the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many changes and modifications can be made in the details above described without departing from the nature and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited except as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a high speed windup system the combination comprising a supporting frame structure, a windup rol'l chuck, means rotatably mounting said chuck on said frame structure, a movable assembly on said frame structure adjacent said chuck, a drive roll and. yarn traversing mechanism, a first seismic eccentric rotation accom It will also be seen that the entire traverse cam modating means resiliently supporting and mounting said drive roll and yarn traversing mechanism on said movable assembly in operative association with said chuck, power drive means on said movable assembly operatively connected with said drive roll and traversing mechanism, means mounting said movable assembly on said frame structure to maintain a minimum spacing between the traversing mechanism and the windup roll chuck and constant contact between said drive roll and a yarn package mounted on said windup roll chuck during windup of yarn on said package, said means rotatably mounting said chuck on said frame structure comprising a second seismic eccentric rotation accommodating resilient supporting and mounting means for said chuck and a means for maintaining the axis of said Windup chuck in constant parallel alignment with the axis of said drive roll.

2. An improved high speed yarn windup apparatus comprising a frame structure, a windup roll chuck assembly mounted on said frame structure, a drive roll unit mounted on said frame structure and positioned to cooperate with a yarn package wound on said Windup roll chuck assembly, a yarn traversing mechanism mounted on said frame structure in operative association with said windup roll chuck assembly, a power drive means operatively connected to said drive roll unit, said windup roll chuck assembly comprising a rotatable chuck for carrying a yarn windup roll, and first resilient means positioned between said chuck and said frame structure for supporting said chuck and accommodating rotational movements of said chuck axis due to unbalance of the chuck so that said movements are substantially isolated and limited to said rotating chuck and said resilient means, said resilient means constructed to provide independent support for each end of said rotating chuck and accommodate independently and simultaneously different rotational movements at each end of said chuck, said windup roll chuck assembly further comprising a selfaligning device positioned between said first resilient means and said supporting frame structure to provide support for said resilient means and said rotatable chuck and simultaneously permit limited translational movement of said rotatable chuck along its axis with respect to the supporting frame structure and limited pivotal movement of said rotatable chuck about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said chuck in order to maintain continuous parallel alignment between said rotatable chuck as it is driven by said drive roll.

3. The improved apparatus of claim 2 in which said self aligning device comprises an elongated member extending from the frame structure in a given direction, an elongated cage element suspended from said member and restrained to move in a first plane containing the given direction along which the elongated member extends and to remain substantially parallel to said member, said cage element containing a housing which contains said first resilient means and a portion of said rotating chuck, pivotal mounting means connecting said housing and said cage element for limited pivotal movement of said housing relative to said cage element and supporting frame about an axis, containing the center of gravity of said rotating chuck and perpendicular to the axis of the rotating chuck, said axis also perpendicular to the said first plane of movement of said cage element, said housing pivotal movement occurring in a second plane containing the rotating chuck axis and perpendicular to said first plane, the parts comprising said self aligning device cooperating to maintain said chuck in constant alignment and parallelism with the drive roll under varying conditions of package size and relative movement between said chuck and said drive roll as the yarn winding operation is accomplished.

4. An improved apparatus for high speed rotation of a first rotary cylindrical structure by surface contact with a second rotary cylindrical driving member, comprising a frame structure, a driven rotary cylindrical structure, a driving rotary cylindrical member in line surface contact therewith, a first means rotatably mounting said driven structure on said frame, a second means rotatably mounting said driving member on said frame, rotary power drive means operatively connected to said driving member, one of said means comprising a compensating mechanism positioned between the frame structure and rotating pait, said mechanism secured to said frame structure and flexibly supporting said rotating part to restore constant parallel alignment between said drive structure and said driving member Without scufiing contact when the axis of one or the other of the rotating parts is defiected out of such alignment, the said compensating mechanism comprising a substantially rigid elongated beam-like element rigidly secured to said frame structure and projecting therefrom in substantially horizontal direction, an elongated open casing pendulously suspended from said beam-like element for limited swinging movement parallel thereto, a housing in which is mounted the rotating .part, said housing carried by said open casing by means of a pivotal connection which permits limited pivotal movement of saidv housing with respect to said.

open casing and said frame structure about an axis perpendicular to the axis of, the rotating part and lying in the plane of the swinging movement of said open casing and passing through the center of gravity of said rotating part, said pivotal movement occurring in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the swinging movement of said open casing.

5. The improved apparatus of claim 4 in which said casing is suspended from said beam-like element by two pivoted links which are arranged to diverge as they approach the said casing to assist in restoring parallel alignment when the axis of one of the rotating parts is deflected out of such alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent i UNITED STATES PATENTS Stange June 26, 1956 Wroby Sept. 29, 1959 Doherty Ian. 5, 1960 Stone Mar. 8, 1960 2,752, TOO 2,906,572 

